Human Conditions
by Richard Ashcroft
  • Record Label: Virgin
  • Release Date: Feb 25, 2003
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 15
  3. Negative: 2 out of 15
  1. Ink 19
    60
    Human Conditions is the sound of Ashcroft searching for personal and spiritual connections and seeking higher truths in soaring pop choruses. All this existential meditation leaves us, like him, ultimately unfulfilled.
  2. AllMusic
    60
    It's a decent second album and longtime Verve enthusiasts should leave it at that.
  3. Uncut
    60
    At times he tries too hard, but there's much here to commend. [Nov 2002, p.114]
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  5. Rolling Stone
    60
    Ashcroft's mastery of balladry makes "Buy It in Bottles" his best since the Verve's "Lucky Man."
  6. ShakingThrough.net
    58
    Human Conditions suggests that Ashcroft has forgotten how to rock, choosing to indulge what appears to be a messiah complex.
  7. E! Online
    42
    Human Conditions is as bloated and directionless as its awkward title suggests, weighted with meandering songs without melodies, lyrics straight out of freshman-year philosophy class and a sickly slick sheen.
  8. Blender
    40
    Good living has tilted his writing from surefooted and universal to numbing and platitudinous, while his stormy passions are becalmed by an overwhelming production job. [#14, p.130]
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  9. Q Magazine
    40
    Human Conditions is not a musical disaster on the scale of Heathen Chemistry. It's just that, from Richard Ashcroft, more is expected. [Nov 2002, p.98]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 21
  3. Negative: 2 out of 21
  1. elenip
    Aug 31, 2019
    10
    My favorite singer by far, his voice is everything, his music is the soundtrack of my life.
  2. Ricko
    Apr 24, 2012
    7
    Second solo record from the former Verve front man. Not a bad record - it's got some good stuff on it, opening Check the Meaning is a topSecond solo record from the former Verve front man. Not a bad record - it's got some good stuff on it, opening Check the Meaning is a top tune. There are a handful of other decent songs on here. There's also a few slow paced boring numbers that will help any insomniacs out there sleep soundly. Probably his strongest post Verve offering but nothing on here would get close to Urban Hymns. No doubt Ashcroft is a talented song writer but consistency ain't his strong point.… Full Review »
  3. IñakiZ
    May 12, 2006
    9
    Pop Master! Brian Wilson sings on it!
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